Club officials who are refusing to release their players for the Cosafa Cup do not deserve to be crucified.

And still Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is justifiably gnashing his teeth for failing to get the players he selected for the tournament.

So who should be blamed here?

Is it the PSL, Safa, club officials or the coach?

Did I hear somebody say all of them?

Methinks that this is not the time to point accusing fingers at anyone, but to work in tandem and find a solution to these problems.

We are, or should all be aware, though, that we have lots of problems in our football.

Look, it will be an embarrassment for a country of South Africa's ilk to fail to honour a Cosafa Cup simply because of the so-called unavailability of players.

When Parreira took over the Bafana Bafana coaching reins he recommended the formation of a reserve league.

Not just a reserve league, but a league that will seriously benefit the senior squad.

There was an air of delight and encoura- gement when some teams started the reserve league last season, but the league did not benefit all the teams.

It is still to kick off this season.

You see, if we have a strong and professional reserve league, we would not have experienced the problems we are experiencing today.

The reserve league should not only be seen as a league that accommodates injured players.

Or to be seen as the league that accommodates players who are trying to regain their fitness level.

We seriously need a league that we will all be proud of and that will spoil Parreira when it comes to selection.

Parreira has spoken and maybe somebody did not take him seriously and now, once again, we are experiencing the club-versus-country problem.

Parreira, you are not alone in this problem, Steve Komphela, the coach of the Under-23, once experienced such problems and the sooner the authorities in this country take your recommendations seriously the better.